Known in the state of the art are connectors that enable application of a large number of points on the surface of the integrated circuit to be verified. Such circuits have a dense grid of pins the contact end of which is mobile to allow adaptation to defects in the surface evenness of the circuits to be verified and to defects in the processing equipment. These pins are electrically connected to a wire harness for connection to control equipment.
As an example, European patent EP 68270 describes an electric test unit comprising a multiplicity of elongated test elements constituted of a flexible, conductive material and spaced-apart upper and lower support elements with orifices through which pass the ends of said test elements. The lower support element maintains these tests elements in an essentially parallel arrangement, in a configuration corresponding to that of the pins to be contacted.
Also known is European patent EP 735372 which describes an assembly of pins traversing a perforated plate and comprising spring elements that exert pressure on the contact surface. European patent EP 528608 describes a connector for testing an integrated circuit unit which is surface mounted on a printed circuit card and presents an essentially rectangular configuration including an upper surface, a lower surface and four lateral sides. A series of electric conductors extends from at least one of said lateral sides.
The connector comprises:
                a connector box which has an essentially rectangular recess that can fit above the integrated circuit unit;        at least one comb made of insulating material and equipped with a series of teeth that extend laterally towards the interior of the recess from the connector box with a predefined spacing between each pair of adjacent teeth, with the teeth being capable of being inserted in a removable manner between the conductors when the connector box is fitted above the integrated circuit unit;        a frame assembly of conductors attached to the connector box inside the recess;        a flexible cable that includes a series of conductors extending in parallel from the connector box to a second connector that can implement the electric connections with an external test unit; and        a series of conductive pins mounted in the orifices provided with a coating of the insulating layer which can implement the interconnections.        
The problem posed by the connectors of the prior art is that of the density of the pins and the miniaturization of the contacts. This density is limited by the deformations of the pin during application on the surface of the integrated circuit to be verified and by the necessity of absolutely avoiding any contact between adjacent pins. A second problem is that of controlling the course—force function. The objective is to work in the part of the displacement/force curve corresponding to saturation to ensure an almost constant tracking force irrespective of the extension of the end of the pin. This characteristic makes it possible to ensure an identical tracking force for all of the pins even when the contact surface exhibits defects in surface evenness.